Tourist on Deck of World Trade Center
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NASA Satellite Photo of Candle-lit Nation
World Trade Center Death Hoaxes
South Africa Terrorist Hoax
Venture Bid Hoax
Kumara Pits
Frank Flynn's Food-Poisoning Hoax
Lovenstein Institute Presidential IQ Report
Predictions of Nostradamus
Soon after the events of September 11, an e-mail began to circulate claiming that Nostradamus, a 16th Century astrologer, had predicted the attacks on the World Trade Center. Two quatrains attributed to Nostradamus were offered as proof of this claim. They read: "In the City of God there will be a great thunder,/ Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, / while the fortress endures, / the great leader will succumb, / The third big war will begin when the big city is burning." And, "On the 11th day of the 9 month, / two metal birds will crash into two tall statues / in the new city, / and the world will end soon after." Nostradamus did not write these quatrains. The first quatrain is loosely derived from his writings, but the second one is of completely modern invention. Therefore, the claim that Nostradamus predicted the attack is a hoax.
Tourist Posing on the Observation Deck of the World Trade Center While Plane Approaches From Behind
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NASA Satellite Photo of Candle-lit Nation
In the week following September 11, a widely-circulated e-mail urged Americans to light a candle and stand outside of their homes in order for a NASA satellite to take a photograph of the entire nation illuminated by candlelight. The photo, which would demonstrate American unity in the face of terrorist aggression, was to be posted on NASA's website the following day. The exact date and time at which people were supposed to light their candles varied, according to which version of the e-mail people received. But in fact, all versions of the e-mail were fake. NASA never planned to take such a photograph. In any case, candlelight would have been invisible against the brighter glare of electric lights.
World Trade Center Death Hoaxes
As estimates of the death toll rose in the days following the attack on the twin towers, families from all over the nation and throughout the world began to alert the media of loves ones that they had lost in the attack. A small number of these reports turned out to be fraudulent. For instance, Maureen Curry of Vancouver, Canada reported that her daughter, Carolyn Burdz, had been killed in the attack. She also complained that her employer had refused her request for bereavement leave. Friends and sympathetic politicians quickly raised over two thousand dollars for her, but in fact, her daughter was alive and well and living in Winnipeg. The two had been estranged for years. Likewise, Susan Arroyo of Tennessee reported the death of her sister, apparently in an attempt to re-establish ties with her brother. Finally, the deaths of Jude and Natalie Larson gained worldwide coverage, even though the two had not flown that day. The perpetrator behind this final hoax is not known.
South Africa Terrorist Hoax
Two brothers living in South Africa, Chris and Jaco Conradie, created a fake CNN report that appeared to suggest evidence of a link between South African terrorists and the attacks on the World Trade Center. The report, distributed through e-mail, soon made its way to the US. The two brothers were promptly arrested by the South African authorities and charged with sabotage.
Venture Bid Hoax
On September 5 a report posted on a Singapore stock forum, ShareInvestor.com, announced that the Toronto-based electronics giant Celestica was making a bid to buy Venture Manufacturing. The report was posted at around 3 p.m. and immediately caused a sharp spike in Venture's stock price. At around 4:30 p.m. the posting was removed from ShareInvestor's website after officials realized that it was a hoax. Apparently the official-sounding language of the report had fooled investors into believing that it was real. The language had actually simply been copied from a press release issued by Celestica in June announcing its purchase of Omni Industries (the appropriate names and dates had been altered).
Kumara Pits
Kumara Pits are holes that were dug into the ground by Maoris hundreds of years ago in order to store Kumara seeds. The remains of such pits are now protected in New Zealand as historic sites. A controversy erupted in Kaiteriteri, Nelson when some kumara pits were destroyed as part of a landscaping project sponsored by the Kaiteriteri Reserve Board. Local Iwi promptly complained. The mayor, John Hurley, countered by claiming in mid-September that the pits were not authentic, but were actually a 40-year-old hoax. He said they had been dug by bulldozers back in the early 1960s, a prank in which he had participated. He did not explain why the prank had been perpetrated, however, and some archaeologists still assert that the pits were real.
Frank Flynn's Food-Poisoning Hoax
240 restaurants in New York City received letters on Columbia Business School stationery from Frank Flynn, a professor at the Business School. The letters described a case of food poisoning that Flynn had acquired as a result of dining at their restaurant with his wife on their wedding anniversary. Flynn described his experience in vivid and accusatory detail: "Our special romantic evening became reduced to my wife watching me curl up in a fetal position on the tiled floor of our bathroom between rounds of throwing up." Flynn explained that while he did not intend to file any charges against the restaurant, he did expect them to "respond accordingly." Receipt of this letter sent each restaurant that received it into a panic (they didn't know that an identical letter had been received by 239 of their peers). Staff members were drilled on how to prepare food properly and tempers flared. However, a closer reading of the letter caused a few restaurants to become suspicious. Flynn did not disclose the date on which he had supposedly dined at their restaurant, nor did he state the food he had eaten. Furthermore, no similar cases had been reported. A few inquiries were made, and it was discovered that the letter-writing campaign was part of a research project being conducted by Flynn to investigate "vendor response to consumer complaints." Flynn sent a letter of apology to all 240 of the restaurants he had written to.
Lovenstein Institute Presidential IQ Report
In July, 2001 an e-mail began to circulate claiming that the Lovenstein Institute, a think-tank based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, had conducted research into the IQ of all the Presidents of the past 50 years and concluded that George W. Bush ranked at the bottom, with an IQ of only 91. The e-mail originated as a joke report on linkydinky.com. In its original version, the joke was evident. The Pennsylvania Court Observer was cited as the source for the news, but this paper was described as having a circlation of only five. Furthermore, Dr. Lovenstein was described as "living in a mobile home in Scranton, Pennsylvania." As the joke began to make its way through people's e-mail, however, these textual clues were removed, and people began to assume that the Lovenstein Institute was a real research organization. The London Guardian reported the Lovenstein Report as a real news item on July 19. On August 26 Doonesbury, a comic strip written by Garry Trudeau, also featured the Lovenstein report, and this comic strip appeared on the Doonesbury website on September 2. Once they learned of their mistakes, both Trudeau and the Guardian published retractions.